Appeals
Appeals to appellate courts from trial court are automatic. You almost
always have the right to appeal a decision one level
Beyond that level are the state or federal Supreme Courts, which can
agree to grant certiorari and hear a case or can refuse to hear a case.
To appeal a decision based on a particular mistake of the trial court, the
following steps must be met:
- the error must have been objected to during trial
- error must not be “harmless” (it must be an important one)
In evaluating an appeal, the appellate court will give deference to the trial
court and the trier of fact on issues of fact; the appellate court’s job is only to
determine if the trial court erred in applying the law! Judgments of facts will
only be reversed if they are completely unreasonable
Likewise, the trial judge has wide discretion in most trial rulings (e.g., how
to handle objections, etc.). In such cases, these rulings will only be reversed
if the judge abused his or her discretion in the ruling.
A federal court (or the Supreme Court) can sometimes “certify a
question” to clarify an issue of state law necessary to answer a question.
Possible dispositions on appeal:
- Affirmed (upheld)
- Reversed and dismissed
- Reversed and remanded with instructions
- Reversed and remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with
this opinion
- Reversed in part and affirmed in part and remanded; etc. etc.
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Class Actions
This is a device that allows many plaintiffs to sue a defendant (or many
defendants) in one action for an incident or product that cause many
injuries; it saves resources by not forcing all the plaintiffs to spend the
time and money to invest in a lawsuit.
A single “representative” of the class prosecutes the action on behalf of
the entire class and the verdict or settlement is binding on and benefits
the entire class.
Requirements for a class action:
1) Numerocity: there must be many members (usually, at least 50; but
no # is set in stone)
2) Commonality: there must be common questions of law and/or fact to
all members of the class
3) Typicality: the claims of the class representative must be “typical” of
the claims of the class
4) Adequacy of representation: the court must be convinced that this
representative is capable of competently handling the class action suit
- In all of these factors, the judge has discretion to determine if they are
met!
- For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and venue,
you look at the residency of the representatives!
Any member of the class may “opt out” of the class action suit. This allows
the person to bring his or her own suit, but it also means that he or she will
not share in the benefits of the judgment or settlement from the class action
suit!
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